I looked at it as an opportunity to assess what needs were being met and to ask, were we providing an important experience for our congregation and neighborhood?

Certainly there were enjoyable moments reminiscent of synods past, but this was the most brutal of the four synods I have yet attended.

I wish the Parable of the Prodigal Son went just a little longer.

One of the ways I’ve identified with my Nêhiyaw culture is to come to appreciate burning sweetgrass and sage.

This plant can’t be left to its own devices or it will overtake every inch of ground it can.

The unity the Bible demands in our situation is not the unity of moderates. There are two kinds of biblical unity.

There is little quiet time anymore.

If you are not careful, these whisperings might build up to a debilitating depressive episode.

I have four main beliefs in regards to how we should navigate the increasing polarization in our denomination.

Given our identity as a Lake Family (and Not a Camping Family), it goes without saying that to be a child in the Hoff Family is to be a Lake Kid.

As a delegate to Synod 2023, I go with fear and trembling because of how I’ve heard many people talk about the delegates from synod last year.

One unlikely man was instrumental in starting two of our great universities: David Brainerd.

Belief is a true attachment that fastens believers to their Savior in ways unknown to the human eye.

A Nashville pastor contemplates the ‘why?’ of this week’s shooting.

While daylight helps many plants and animals grow and prosper, darkness offers an equally important time to rest.

Not much has changed since David’s day. There is still a famine of hope.

The inner critic never quits. It has home field advantage on the terrain of sadness.

I wonder about this named-yet-unknown quilt creator. Why did she craft this special quilt for our son?

Singing together is an essential activity when we gather for worship, lifting the spirit and nourishing the soul. But sometimes the sacred shows up elsewhere.

My ancestors were connected to the land in many ways, which connected them to the Creator.

“There’s something about love that builds up and is creative,” the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. declared in a sermon. “There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive.”

Seeing someone lift up their light inspires others to do the same.

I used to resent reminders to pray. I took their reminders of prayer to mean they thought that I was somehow to blame.